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In today’s time, employees consider work culture to be a highly significant factor to decide their organization. They tend to avoid organizations having a bad reputation or are known to have a toxic work culture. This is the reason that establishing an ideal work culture is among the top priorities for all organizations now. Continue reading further to become aware of the signs of toxic work culture and how to fix them.
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Work culture is a quite broad term. It comprises all the attitudes and behaviors of the organization and its employees. It’s also referred to as the business culture, corporate culture, and company culture. Whether the employees or the employers realize it or not, every organization has a certain culture. Culture is portrayed in the manner your employees communicate, take decisions and execute strategies. Now, the organizational culture holds high importance. It has a direct influence on your clients, employees, and brand. When you have a positive work culture, your workforce gets more engaged, productive, and motivated.
Culture brings talent. Well, it surely does. When your organization is known to have an uplifting culture, you’ll easily drive applicants and attract talent. So, make sure to be on the lookout for these signs to prevent your work culture from being toxic.
Signs of a toxic work culture
High rate of employee turnover
Is your organization constantly posting about job openings in the company? Do you keep losing your employees due to one reason or another? A high rate of employee turnover is often an indication that something unpleasant might be going on behind the picture. Whenever you notice your employee turnover rate increasing, taking a closer glance at the work culture should be the very first thing to do. Having a positive work culture in place will ensure that your employees remain engaged, productive, and highly motivated to achieve success.
Consistent conflicts
Is there any sort of conflict and tension amongst your teams and employees? Do your employees get along with each other? Make sure to always keep a check to ensure the prevention of any sort of conflict. Conflicts in the organization can lead to a hostile work environment. It fosters undue competitiveness, makes it tough to trust each other, and therefore hinders their productivity and collaboration.
Prioritization of results over people
Every leader wants their employees to put in their best work and guide their organization to success. However, at the end of the day, chasing outcomes and results don’t mean that you should neglect your people. Doing so will result in you losing your talented workforce along with such serious implications for the organization. Your employees should always feel that they are valuable to the organization.
How to improve an organization’s work culture?
If you have noticed any of the above-described signs in your teams, it’s time for you to take swift action. Following are some of the tips to should take for improving your organization’s work culture:
Prioritize communication and transparency
Make sure that you are communicating with your teams and employees on regular basis. Let them be informed that they can always be transparent about their ideas, concerns and opinions. At the same time, remember the most effective ways to have a transparent culture is by walking the walk. So, make sure you too are transparent with them about updates and progress related to the company’s business. This will boost your team so do the same.
More team-building activities
If you don’t feel that your employees get along quite well and trust each other completely, consider organizing more team-building exercises. Companies even have remote team-building activities to ensure that their team remains to be engaged and positive even while working remotely. Such activities work to foster deeper organizational connections, establish trust and make the relationship stronger among the employees.
Promote autonomy
It is important to take significant steps for encouraging autonomy among your teams and employees. However, this doesn’t mean that you have to regularly breathe down your people’s necks and micromanage them. Give the people the freedom they need to work at their best level and see them thrive. Check in only from time to time to solve their concerns and ensure that everything is on the desired track.
Offer recognition
Recognition remains to be one of the most vital drivers of employee satisfaction and engagement. When your team members are aware that their hard work will always be appreciated, they’ll be more inclined to walk the extra mile for making the company successful. Ensure that you make it a routine to give shout-outs and recognition in both the group settings as well as the one-on-one meetings.
Improving the employee experience should be centric to your culture. Doing so will make you step into the shoe of your employee and establish a culture suited for them to thrive in. For more assistance regarding work culture, reach out to us today.
